


The truth will set you free

by NatalieRyan



Series: Whumptober 2020 [22]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: 1x12 cold open, Angst, Drugged Jack, Emotional Whump, Flashback, Gen, Jack Angst, Whump, Whumptober 2020, day 22, post 1x12 cold open
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27154097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatalieRyan/pseuds/NatalieRyan
Summary: I originally planned this story for the cold open challenge, but I lost the train of thought and postponed it for Whumptober if a prompt fit. And now it finally sees the light of day. I had a craving for some Jack angst and I went and wrote it.(This was actually the first idea I filed away for a possible Whumptober prompt, btw)Thanks thistle for the beta.
Relationships: Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: Whumptober 2020 [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948579
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	The truth will set you free

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SabbyStarlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabbyStarlight/gifts), [N1ghtshade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/N1ghtshade/gifts).



> I originally planned this story for the cold open challenge, but I lost the train of thought and postponed it for Whumptober if a prompt fit. And now it finally sees the light of day. I had a craving for some Jack angst and I went and wrote it. 
> 
> (This was actually the first idea I filed away for a possible Whumptober prompt, btw)
> 
> Thanks thistle for the beta.

Mac wasn't used to seeing Jack so out of his element. His partner was always the steady presence, the rock, the calm to Mac's racing thoughts. Running a thousand scenarios in his head and Jack's voice in his head helping him to separate them each and focus on only one to get them out. Mac always had so many things going through his brain, Jack sometimes joked that Mac was thinking even in his sleep. And he was probably right, because no matter how many hours of sleep Mac got and how early he called it a night, he was still more tired than not, probably overthinking even in his dreams.

And that was the main problem for Mac right now. He managed to locate and free Jack, but his partner was so out of it, Mac was wondering how they were going to get out of here. 

It wasn't even a question, they had an exfil that was scheduled for an hour from now and if Mac stepped on the pedal, they would make it to the private airstrip where the Phoenix jet would wait for them to take off from. 

But Jack wasn't cooperating. He was currently trying to hug Mac for the third time. And as much as Mac liked (and enjoyed) Jack's hugs, they were running out of time. 

“Jack, I'll give you all the hugs once we are out of here. But we really have to go.” 

“Really?” Jack was pouting now and okay, it looked cute, but in a menacing way. 

“Yes, really, big guy. C'mon, help me out here. Let's get a car and hightail it out of here.” 

“As you wish. You'll let me drive?” 

Jack was grinning at him and Mac rolled his eyes at his partner, even high as a kite he was trying to be persuasive. 

“Maybe once you've come off the drugs and have rested well enough. Till then it's me who's chauffeuring you around.” 

Jack, honest to God pouted again, but at least he moved and slowly they made it outside. Mac decidedly did not look at Jack as he spent longer than necessary staring at the “bloodstain” on the floor. 

Once outside it was easy to grab a car. Mac hotwired it and after getting Jack situated, switched gears and drove to their exfil point. 

…

They made it with a minute to spare and after getting on the plane and Mac situating Jack on the couch, Mac exhaled. They had some hours between their current location and home and Mac wasn't looking forward to Jack coming off of the drugs. Mainly he knew that the range could be from extra affectionate, loopy partner to sad and depressive one and that tore at Mac's heart every time. Jack's mind sometimes supplied him with their worst missions and Mac had enough of those nightmares himself, he lived them after all. But he also knew Jack had them even worse for remembering Mac getting hurt in the process. 

And just as Mac guessed Jack's facial expression suddenly changed from grinning to a panic filled gaze, eyes frantically searching. 

“Mac.” 

That one syllable was said so quietly that if Mac wasn't close he was going to miss it. 

“I'm here, Jack. We are on the plane.” 

“You got shot.” 

“No, Jack. I'm okay. It was fake blood.” 

But Jack continued to talk like he didn't even register Mac was here in front of him. He was stuck somewhere in his memories and Mac didn't know how to bring him out of it. 

“There's so much blood, hoss. You have to keep fighting. Do it for me, please. I know I don't deserve to ask you that, but please.”

“Jack, I'm fine. You are not wherever you think you are.”

“Mac… Mac, no! No no no! Stay with me.” 

Jack's eyes were practically unseeing at this point, he started thrashing and yelling and screaming. Jack was steadily going to a panic attack and his breathing came in gasps. 

Mac could feel his eyes fill with tears and couldn't stop them as he watched Jack being caught up in some form of a memory or flashback. He wasn't able to determine what, when and where, but it was really getting to him. 

...

_ There was sand everywhere. It was too hot, scorching hot. And humid. The heat was wafting off of the ground in waves and Mac and Jack were out on one more call for a bomb placed close to a school. Jack was checking the perimeter when the first gunshot went off. He screamed at Mac to take cover, but it was too late, Mac was already shot. And he wasn't moving.  _

_ Jack's heart was seized with panic as he watched his bomb nerd lying motionless on the hot desert sand.  _

_ Jack returned fire and soon (not soon enough in Jack's book) the fight was over. Hostiles were either killed or neutralized and Jack could approach Mac.  _

_ Mac was still not moving. There was a pool of blood gathering around Mac's middle and after Jack carefully checked Mac over he discovered that Mac was shot in his side.  _

_ The scent of the copper in Mac's blood mixing with the sticky air was making Jack feel sick. He quickly radioed in that he needed medical help and set to try and stop the bleeding.  _

_ Mac didn't even stir, when Jack pressed on the wound.  _

_ The one point he could truly focus on was the bloodstain that despite all of Jack's attempts was growing in size.  _

_ Jack growled in frustration.  _

…

Mac was in the middle of a phone call with Patty when Jack screamed like someone was cutting him up (and believe him, Mac knew how that sounded and looked). 

Mac cut the call short, and slowly approached Jack. Jack's eyes were moving all over the place, unfocussed and with raw fear. 

“Jack, hey, Jack, you are safe. We are on the plane. Going home. You are safe.” 

Mac tried with a soft voice. 

“Mac?” 

“Yeah.”

“You got shot.” 

“Not exactly.” 

“But you were… you were bleeding. You…” 

“Jack, I'm fine.” 

Mac could tell that Jack was agitated and that only words won't calm him down. 

“Hey, Jack, you can check for yourself. C'mon, give me your hands.” 

Jack drew a shaky breath and Mac wasn't surprised to see that there were tears in Jack's eyes. 

Mac slowly took Jack's hands and came closer to where Jack was sitting. Jack started checking Mac over, just like he did so many times, only this time Mac was ready to scream because Jack was so distraught, it hurt. 

As Jack's (trembling) hands made progress and came to Mac's right side and Jack kept his hand longer there, pressing even, Mac got an inkling where Jack's need to make sure Mac wasn't shot came from. 

“You, you are okay. I thought. But you were just…” 

Jack looked incredulously at Mac, like Mac lied to him or omitted an important fact. 

“You were probably relieving something from your past. I'm fine. I didn't get shot. Neither did you. Well, except from the drugs and what I assume are some bruises, you are okay.” 

Mac murmured, “physically at least” under his breath, as he reached for the water bottle he left on the table before he called Patty. 

“Drink this. You need plenty of fluids to fight off the drug. It'll help if we stay ahead of the game. Hoping it won't last for long, but you never know with the truth serum.” 

Jack looked confused, still and Mac wanted to go back and beat the guy once again for what he did to Jack. 

“What drug?” 

“You were injected with sodium thiopentothal.” 

“Ooh, the truth serum. Yep. Man, the guy was so stab happy. Beats the guys at Medical. They at least are careful when they poke me.” 

“I'm sorry, Jack.” 

“What for?” 

“That you got injected with this thing. I should have found a way to get you out of there sooner.” 

“You got me out anyway, hoss. Don't beat yourself up over it.” 

“Yeah, but it's you that has to pay the price because I was slow. Again.” 

Mac was getting frustrated with himself. He knew he shouldn't have been, things were out of his control when Jack suggested to separate to cover more ground and Jack got captured. Mac had to bid his time and had to listen to Jack moan in pain as he was beaten up and then listen to Jack psych himself out when they left Jack alone, before coming with the truth serum in the morning. 

Mac managed to get all the guys except the one with Jack and cursed himself for the idea he came up with since he could tell Jack was going to have nightmares about it for days now. 

In a rare moment of lucidity, and Mac counted his blessings because he knew Jack was going to slip into confusion again, Jack was the one that once again comforted him, and Mac realized that he started crying. 

“Mac, it wasn't your fault. You did what you had to do. It's their own fault that they took me. And mine because I wasn't aware enough of my surroundings.” 

“But I'm supposed to look out for you the way you do for me. You watch my back, I watch yours.” 

“You did that. You got me out. We'll be okay.” 

Somehow Mac doubted that but he found it he didn't have it in him to dispute Jack's words. 

… 

It was several more hours before they landed on Phoenix's private airstrip and Mac definitely felt like he aged at least five years since they deplaned. 

Jack had several more bouts of screaming, coming out of restless sleep with equally scary scenarios every time; his subconscious twisting his memories, adding awful things happening to Mac. 

Mac had to go through several more injury checks to satisfy Jack's need to know that Mac was safe and sound, that he wasn't shot and bleeding out in the desert, that his shirt wasn't soaked in blood and water from the lake Como. That Mac wasn't shot during his rescue when Mac freed Jack from where he was held at. 

There were also the loopy moments when Jack asked for more hugs and joked around, but they were far and few in favor of the nightmare-fueled ones. The ones that were tougher to get Jack out of. 

Mac breathed a sigh of relief when Jack was whisked off behind close doors to be treated and sagged in a chair in the waiting room. He was glad that they made it home, and Mac never wanted to know how it felt when your partner was drugged, ever again. 

They both got their fair shares of being drugged throughout the years, but either Mac was too out of it to understand and remember just how it felt, or he blocked it out enough to just forget. Whatever it was, it was hurting him to see Jack so scared, so vulnerable, so exposed and raw and uninhibited, that something deep inside Mac was jarred. Jack was always the calm and collected one, always knew what to say or how to act. How to pull Mac out of his head. And Jack wasn't around to do that right now, so Mac was spiraling. 

It disturbed him to see Jack so off his game. 

Mac was aware that his hands were shaking, hell, he was trembling, shuddering in the cold hallway. He couldn't tell if it was just cold in Medical or if he was feeling cold because of the situation. 

Mac closed his eyes, trying to come up with the side effects when someone was injected with sodium pentothal. 

Headache, agitated emergence, prolonged somnolence, and nausea. 

Jack already went past the nausea and the agitated emergence, and Mac knew that when Jack was finally going to get around, that he'd have a headache. 

Mac wanted to feel terrible about thinking of Jack sleeping more in the aftermath as a relief, but really Mac was at a loss with how he was supposed to take care of a drugged Jack. Jack always knew how to do these things. Mac felt like they came naturally to Jack, and Mac was definitely gonna appreciate his partner more because this, this was one of Mac's personal definitions of hell. 

Mac wondered if he was like this when he was hurt or drugged, or even in a post op state. If he was this agitated, and lost and worried. He probably was worse, with his brain never shutting up. How Jack managed to wrangle him around until Mac wasn't in such a state was beyond Mac's comprehension despite being awfully smart. 

Mac was stuck in his head when one of the nurses on shift came to fetch him with news about Jack. Mac was always losing himself thinking and apparently he lost some time in the process. 

Apparently Jack was asking for him. 

Mac took a deep breath and braced himself for the sight of his partner. He wasn't sure if Jack was going to be his own self or still the drugged out, panicked version. 

Jack's eyes were closed when Mac got to Jack's room, but as soon as Mac pulled out the chair and sat in it, Jack opened them. 

He looked tired, with bags under his eyes, and his face was even paler in the harsh neon light. 

“Hey Jack.” 

“Hey Mac. Heard I scared you. Sorry.” 

“Nah, don't be. It's okay.” 

“No, it's not.” 

Mac chuckled. 

“Yeah, you are right. It's not. But what are partners for, right?” 

“You shouldn't have had to see that.” 

“You've seen me at my worst. How's this different from that?” 

“I…” 

Mac could see Jack was struggling to reply to him. 

“Jack, it's okay to not be at your best. You got me when I'm not okay. I got you as well. Please, don't feel bad about it.” 

“But I'm your Overwatch, hoss. I'm supposed to protect you. And I failed.” 

“On the contrary, you held on that long until I found you. You didn't fail me.”

“That's not how I remember it, Mac.” 

“Well, we'll have to agree to disagree. I think it's legitimate that you don't remember the right things because you were drugged. You will be confused for a while.” 

“Are you trying some of your Jedi mind tricks or something on me?” 

“Maybe. Is it working?” Mac was grinning now.

“Maybe.” 

They sat in a comfortable silence, until Jack broke it. 

“Mac? Would you stay? I don't want to wake up alone.” 

Mac was out of the chair in a second, taking one of Jack's hands and squeezing in reassurance. 

“Promise.” 

“Hey, Mac?” 

“Yes?” 

“i love you.” 

“Love you too, Jack.” 

With that Jack went to sleep and Mac resumed his spot in the chair. He was going to be there for Jack and be the one to look after his partner for a change. It was time for Mac to return at least a little to Jack's countless times that he took care of Mac. 

They were going to be okay. And Mac was going to make sure that happened. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts?


End file.
